Tag Archives: Hell

I enjoyed Tad Williams’ Otherland series, so when I saw the funky cover and realised it was a new series, I scooped it off the shelves. Would I enjoy it as much as the epic fantasy door-stoppers I’m more used to reading from him?

Bobby Dollar, angel on Earth, has a couple of epic problems. Problem One: Bobby has fallen in love with Casimira, Countess of Cold Hants, who just happens to be Eligor, Grand Duke of Hell’s girlfriend. Problem Two: the Grand Duke, aware of the first problem, has whisked Casimira off to the Bottomless Pit itself, telling Bobby he will never see her again unless Bobby hands over a golden feather that Eligor desires more than anything else. But Bobby, long-time veteran of the endless war between above and below, is not the type of guy to be intimidated. All he has to do is toss on a demon’s body, sneak through the infernal gates, work out why Eligor wants the feather, and rescue the girl. Saving the day should just be a matter of an eon or two of anguish, mutilation and horror. If only it were that easy.

While the first person narration is humorously laconic, the overall tone puts the grrr into grimdark. Bobby spends a significant slice of the book in Hell, which Williams has managed to make convincingly hellish. Needless to say, this book isn’t suitable for your younger teens as Williams – known for inventive, detailed worldbuilding – doesn’t hold back when depicting the worst place on the planet. He has taken some of the classic representations of Hell, built on them and given them his own imaginative spin. The result is a graphic examination of hopelessness and despair. One of the grimmer details is that a fair number of its inhabitants don’t really deserve to be there – or the fact they are trapped there for Eternity. And the reason why I’ve capitalised it, is that is a very, very long time. One of the scenes that will haunt me for a while is the Forest of Suicides…

Any niggles? Well, I did feel a bit uncomfortable about the torture – while it wasn’t as graphically described as the backdrop, there were enough details for it to have been extreme. Bobby manages to prevail because of his unwavering belief in his love for Caz and the fact he’s an angel. If he’d been human, he would have folded like wet paper under a fraction of the abuse he endured, which is something that I felt should have been more explicit. But this isn’t a dealbreaker.

It is an original, dark and visceral take on the fight between Good and Evil – the ending wasn’t what I was expecting. But I certainly want to read the next slice of the adventure, Sleeping Late on Judgement Day. If you have enjoyed Tad Williams in the past and haven’t yet picked up this series, I recommend you do so – it is urban fantasy splashed with Williams’ own magic formula.
9/10